The Sinking Of Hms Royal Oak

Author : Dilip Sarkar
Publisher : Frontline Books
ISBN 13 : 1399062344
Total Pages : 315 pages
Book Rating : 4.43/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Faces of HMS Royal Oak written by Dilip Sarkar and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2023-12-30 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 14 October each year, a White Ensign is placed on the stern of an upturned warship by Royal Navy divers. This act commemorates the 835 men of HMS Royal Oak who died in 1939 when the battleship was sunk at anchor in Scapa Flow by the German U-boat U-47. The sinking of the veteran First World War Revenge-class Royal Oak shocked not only the Admiralty, but the whole nation. Though Scapa Flow was far from being impregnable as a base for the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet, it was surrounded by a ring of islands separated by shallow channels subject to fast-racing tides. While it was recognized that it was not impervious to enemy submarines, measures had been put in place to minimize any such threat. Blockships had been sunk at potentially vulnerable points and anti-submarine booms deployed across the wider channels. The outbreak of war in September 1939 saw additional anti-submarine measures put in hand. Despite these increased precautions, German aerial reconnaissance had spotted weaknesses which were exploited on the night of 13/14 October 1939, by Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien in U-47. The German submarine was able to slip into Scapa Flow undetected and fire three torpedoes towards Royal Oak. Only one torpedo found its mark. A second salvo was fired and this time all three hit the battleship, igniting a magazine causing massive damage. Within thirteen minutes, HMS Royal Oak had turned over and sank. In Faces of HMS Royal Oak, Dilip Sarkar not only reveals the tragic and moving stories of many of those who died, but also some of the 399 who survived the sinking of the first Royal Navy battleship lost in the Second World War. Through their photographs, and in some cases words, the horrors of those fateful few minutes as Royal Oak rolled and slid into the cold, dark waters of Scapa Flow, are relived in startling clarity.

Author : H.J. Weaver
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
ISBN 13 : 085790518X
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.85/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Nightmare at Scapa Flow written by H.J. Weaver and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-09-28 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A historian examines what really happened when the British World War II battleship was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Orkney. Sinking the battleship HMS Royal Oak in the Royal Navy’s home anchorage, with the loss of more than 800 of her crew, was Germany’s first shattering blow against Britain during World War II. Within six weeks the Germans achieved their goal of breaching the defenses of Scapa Flow. Germany claimed the sinking for the submarine U-47, commanded by Lt. Gunther Prien. Prien and his crew instantly became folk heroes, exploited to extract the maximum glory from their deed. A few months later, Prien’s autobiography, Mein Weg Nach Scapa Flow, was published and sold an astonishing 750,000 copies. However, there are Royal Oak survivors, who, while accepting that their ship was torpedoed, say Prien and his crew could never have seen the inside of Scapa Flow because Prien’s story differs from the truth. Much has been written on what is now one of the greatest submarine exploits of all time. Yet nobody has managed to sift fact from falsehood and reconcile the apparently irreconcilable German and British stories. Author H. J. Weaver has interviewed Royal Oak survivors, members of U-47’s 1939 crew, Lt. Prien’s widow and members of the firm that published his autobiography. Weaver’s quest for the truth led through England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Orkney, Norway, West Berlin, Cologne, Freiburg, and even distant Amman. Every point of controversy he has patiently investigated until he was able to set down the documented, definitive account of the Royal Oak naval disaster in this book.

Author : Angus Konstam
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1472808916
Total Pages : 84 pages
Book Rating : 4.12/5 ( download)

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Download or read book U-47 in Scapa Flow written by Angus Konstam and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-10-20 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the outset of World War II, Scapa Flow was supposed to be the safe home base of the British Navy – nothing could penetrate the defences of this bastion. So how, in the dead of night, was Gunther Prien's U-47 able to slip through the line of protective warships to sink the mighty Royal Oak? This book provides the answer with an account of one of the most daring naval raids in history. Drawing on the latest underwater archaeological research, this study explains how Prien and his crew navigated the North Sea and Kirk Sound to land a devastating blow to the British. It reveals the level of disrepair that Scapa Flow had fallen into, and delves into the conspiracy theories surrounding the event, including an alleged cover-up by the then First Sea Lord, Winston Churchill.

Author : Dilip Sarkar
Publisher : Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN 13 : 1445615835
Total Pages : 195 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Sinking of HMS Royal Oak written by Dilip Sarkar and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2012-09-15 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the sinking of the HMS Royal Oak by a German submarine which cost the lives of 833 Royal Navy sailors.

Author : David Turner
Publisher : Birlinn Ltd
ISBN 13 : 1788852885
Total Pages : 214 pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Last Dawn written by David Turner and published by Birlinn Ltd. This book was released on 2022-09-01 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 14 October 1939, HMS Royal Oak, one of the British navy's top battleships, was destroyed at the Royal Navy's main anchorage at Scapa Flow, Orkney. The audacious attack, by a German U-boat, was the first major blow against Britain of the Second World War. Over 800 lives were lost, including sailors as young as 14. This book is a revealing account of the tragedy. Told through declassified photographs and naval records, as well as statements from survivors, it is a dramatic and moving reassessment of one of the most shattering events in British naval history.

Author : Dilip Sarkar
Publisher : Amberley Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9781848689442
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.46/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hearts of Oak written by Dilip Sarkar and published by Amberley Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'This book ... provides a completely new and unique perspective on the tragedy ... [of] the Royal Oak story.--the author has ... traced the families of various souls lost with the battleship that fateful night in 1939. Their photographs and stories are representative of all their shipmates. Interviews with survivors bring the dramatic events vivdly to life, emphasizing the human tragedy and experience of war.' (Back cover)

Author : Dougie Martindale
Publisher : Frontline Books
ISBN 13 : 9781526737755
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.52/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Gunther Prien and U-47: The Bull of Scapa Flow written by Dougie Martindale and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2018-09-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the night of 13/14 October 1939, the Type VIIB U-boat U-47, on its second War Patrol, penetrated the main Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow and sank the British battleship HMS Royal Oak. This legendary attack is remembered as one of the most audacious raids in the history of submarine warfare. Laid down on 25 February 1937, and entering service in December 1938 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See, later Kapitanleutnant Gunther Prien, after sinking HMS Royal Oak both Prien and his famous U-boat were known thereafter as 'The Bull of Scapa Flow'. During a lavish celebration in Berlin to mark the sinking of HMS Royal Oak, the crew members of U-47 were received by Adolf Hitler. For his part, Prien received the Knight's Cross, becoming the first U-boat officer and only the second member of the Kriegsmarine to receive this decoration. Still under Prien's command, U-47 returned to sea on 16 November 1939. Over the months that followed, U-47 went on to complete a total of ten war patrols. During these, Prien and his crew sank a total of thirty-one Allied ships and damaged eight more, making it one of the most successful U-boats of the Second World War. As a central figure in the Battle of the Atlantic, Prien was consistently at the heart of events until he was lost on board U-47 in March 1941. U-47 had departed Lorient on her tenth and last patrol on 20 February 1941. She went missing on 7 March 1941. In this remarkably detailed account, the author charts the full story of U-47, its commander and crew. As well as examining all the main events in each of U-47's ten War Patrols, particularly the attack on HMS Royal Oak, for which a number of important new conclusions are explored, as is U-47's final fate. AUTHOR: Dougie Martindale is the author of fifteen articles which primarily focus on the modifications made to German U-boats and the paint colours. Ten articles have been translated into Spanish and six were published in the SubCommittee Report magazine. He is co-owner of Accurate Model Parts, a company producing aftermarket products for submarine models. He has also completed books on Scottish aircraft wrecks and cycle touring. Dougie lives in the west of Scotland with his wife and daughter.

Author : Dougie Martindale
Publisher : Frontline Books
ISBN 13 : 9781526737755
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.52/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Gunther Prien and U-47: The Bull of Scapa Flow written by Dougie Martindale and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2018-09-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the night of 13/14 October 1939, the Type VIIB U-boat U-47, on its second War Patrol, penetrated the main Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow and sank the British battleship HMS Royal Oak. This legendary attack is remembered as one of the most audacious raids in the history of submarine warfare. Laid down on 25 February 1937, and entering service in December 1938 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See, later Kapitanleutnant Gunther Prien, after sinking HMS Royal Oak both Prien and his famous U-boat were known thereafter as 'The Bull of Scapa Flow'. During a lavish celebration in Berlin to mark the sinking of HMS Royal Oak, the crew members of U-47 were received by Adolf Hitler. For his part, Prien received the Knight's Cross, becoming the first U-boat officer and only the second member of the Kriegsmarine to receive this decoration. Still under Prien's command, U-47 returned to sea on 16 November 1939. Over the months that followed, U-47 went on to complete a total of ten war patrols. During these, Prien and his crew sank a total of thirty-one Allied ships and damaged eight more, making it one of the most successful U-boats of the Second World War. As a central figure in the Battle of the Atlantic, Prien was consistently at the heart of events until he was lost on board U-47 in March 1941. U-47 had departed Lorient on her tenth and last patrol on 20 February 1941. She went missing on 7 March 1941. In this remarkably detailed account, the author charts the full story of U-47, its commander and crew. As well as examining all the main events in each of U-47's ten War Patrols, particularly the attack on HMS Royal Oak, for which a number of important new conclusions are explored, as is U-47's final fate. AUTHOR: Dougie Martindale is the author of fifteen articles which primarily focus on the modifications made to German U-boats and the paint colours. Ten articles have been translated into Spanish and six were published in the SubCommittee Report magazine. He is co-owner of Accurate Model Parts, a company producing aftermarket products for submarine models. He has also completed books on Scottish aircraft wrecks and cycle touring. Dougie lives in the west of Scotland with his wife and daughter.

Author : Gerald S. Snyder
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Royal Oak Disaster written by Gerald S. Snyder and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Gunther Prien
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781841450537
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book U-Boat Commander written by Gunther Prien and published by . This book was released on 2005-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Royal Oak was one of the mightiest battleships of the British Navy although, prior to the start of the Second World War, it had been scheduled for retirement. Nonetheless, when it was sent to the bottom of the sea on 14 October 1939 the shock was felt thoughout Britain. How could it be vulnerable to attack when it lay inside the great naval base of Skapa Flow, ringed by defences that were believed, by the Royal navy, to be impregnable? U-47, commanded by Gunther Prien, had found a way though the maze to the heart of the anchorage where the Royal Oak lay. Suddenly two torpedoes blew the mighty battleship apart and it capsized with the loss of over 800 men. In the mayhem that followed, Prien and his crew escaped unnoticed. Gunther Prien went on to become, until his death in May 1941, the leading U-boat commander and was awarded Germany's highest decoration, the Knight's Cross - with the Oakleaves being awarded posthumously. U-Boat Commander is Prien's own account of his early life, his training for U-boat command in the early years of Hitler's Third Reich up to the sinking of the Royal Oak.